no-shave december!

Since Danny needs to be clean-shaven for work, he took his Christmas break seriously & "grew out" his beard/mustache with his co-worker Logan. This was a good two weeks :) He may think he's less of a man, but I'm not a fan of facial hair so it works out great for us! Haha.

 

new year's eve

it's hard to believe that 2013 has already come and gone! we rang in the new year with my family and this year's party didn't disappoint. we had all the traditional foods (doritos, oreos, martinelli's, chocolates, you know...all the healthy stuff!) and played all the games we wanted! the highlight was when my dad miraculously won clue on the very first turn of the game! :) spot it with my parents was also incredibly entertaining! 

when the clock was about to strike midnight, we rushed outside to ring in the new year with lots of sparklers, fun pictures, and of course the mandatory new year's kiss :) enjoy!

attempt #1...dad was a little confused about the "p" :)

that's a little better!

let it snow!!

christmas vacation isn't complete without a sledding session. am i right?! 

i could actually do without it, and this year i got to use pregnancy as an excuse not to fly down the hill...but my goodness the kids had a blast!!! i thought they would last twenty minutes (tops!) but the frigid weather didn't stop them one bit. they couldn't get enough! it was pretty hilarious to watch. ave and max even took some runs all by themselves...and max hit a few jumps (and got hit!) and didn't shed a tear. i was the baby and ended up leaving about twenty minutes before them but my frozen feet wouldn't have lasted much longer. 

danny's such a trooper! that hill was not the smallest hill ever and he made the trek up more than once...with kids in tow!

christmas day 2013

we spent christmas day (and the days following) with danny's family and as usual, it was a blast! we switched things up a little this year and did a "favorite things" exchange. each present could technically be stolen twice & then it was safe with the recipient. for the most part, things stayed civil, but there were a few especially fun moments :) we gave a whirley pop (the best popcorn maker ever. hands down.) and spot it! (such a fun game!!) and we received some delicious chips & salsa, a chick-fil-a calendar complete with coupons for a free item every month (score!) and a pizza slicer. 

after that, it was christmas morning all over again! presents, people, and wrapping paper was everywhere!!! but what a fun time. christmas is the best! :)

milo is getting so big!!

the magic of christmas!

thanks to angelic kids who slept in, and an episode of "frosty the snowman" we were rested enough to start off our christmas morning on the right foot. we ate breakfast in bed, read the christmas story from the bible, and then did the traditional choo-choo train out to the living room to see what mom & dad brought. (we are probably horrible parents, but danny told the kids almost every day in december that santa claus isn't real. i'm a little worried they'll hold grudges the rest of their lives, but for now i'm fine with it. why should santa get all of the credit anyways?! :)

ave loves super why!

don't mind the straight-out-of-bed look...i am so excited about this book!!

one of ave's favorite gifts: princess dress-ups!!!! finally :)

max requested a "batman puzzle" and though i didn't think i would ever find one...i did!! he was one happy camper.

she also loved the mini-folk dollhouse (good thing! since i slaved away on it! haha)

the after-math!!

princess dress number 2...which she stayed in the rest of the day! gotta love little girls.

after opening presents and cleaning up the disaster, we packed our bags and headed north for the week to spend with family & friends. more posts coming soon!